Castle's Gift
by degunther
Summary: This is a short, out of sequence story crafted for the season.


Castles' Gift

This is a short, out of sequence story crafted for the season.

The Loft, Late Morning, a Couple of Days before Christmas – Rick's Story

James Castle put the last block in place, reached for his car, slammed the car into the wall and screeched with joy as he watched the blocks go flying. He looked up at his smiling Dad who was sitting cross-legged on the floor across from him. He helped his Dad move the blocks back into a big pile. Before he put the first block in place to build a new wall he looked to his left and pointed. The big green thing was new. It smelled nice, strange but nice and the blinking lights were fun to watch, especially after supper when the room got dark. James turned Snoopy so that he could look in that direction and asked him what it was.

"It's a Christmas tree," his Dad said. "The lights are fun to watch aren't they? In a couple of years I'm going to need to talk to you about Christmas. What it really means. I'll try to help you separate the real meaning of Christmas from the cult of getting presents that seems to have overtaken the Holiday. Luckily I've been through this once with your big sister and she gets it. Hopefully I will be able to explain it to you too. "

Castle watched his son's face turn back toward him. His eyes full of innocence and wonder. "Mind you I like getting presents as well as the next person, but I also like giving them. I consider myself a gifting ninja and I absolutely love it when a person opens my present and their face lights up! Especially your Mom's. Have you noticed that she's got the best smile in the universe? "

Castle paused for several moments with a gentle smile on his face. "Oh, where was I? Yes, presents," said Castle as he turned from James and looked at the tree and back. "I totally agree that we should set aside a day to celebrate how much we love our families and appreciate our friends, but why limit it to a single day? I mean a gift in June means just as much as a gift in December, maybe more. For centuries this expression of love and appreciation has taken the form of a gift, a present. Me, I think a lot of people have lost their way as far as gifts and presents are concerned. Some people only consider the value of the gift they give or receive, while others only consider the number of gifts they receive. They think it is a measure of their worth. They're missing the point completely."

Castle turned back to James and opened his arms wide. James took the hint and toddled over and into his father's lap. "And the gift givers, most of them concentrate on finding the thing they can afford. They forget the most important thing. The gift should come from the heart, not the pocket book, and most of the best gifts can cost little or nothing. Another thing you need to know," said Castle softly. "The best gift isn't a thing it's a memory. Memories last a lifetime, things get lost, broken, or replaced. So when you can gift a memory. It's something I learned for the first time a longtime ago when I helped your Grandmother move into a new place. I found an old shoe box. In the box was every present I made for her. I mean everything. From coloring book pages to bad pottery to hair ribbons to…," Castle pause to shift James around on his lap a little. "When your Grandma opened the box the expression on her face was sheer joy and the tears of joy on her face were beautiful. I remembered it and that's why I made something extra-special for her this year. When you're older we can work together and make presents for your Mom and Grandma Okay?"

Castle shook is head when James seemed to nod his understanding. "Your Mom gives me the best gift ever every day. Know what it is? A hug and a kiss, because I remember and treasure each one."

"Come on son," said Castle as he picked up James and headed toward the window. "The paper said that the rain would be turning to snow this morning. Let's see if they were right." Castle pushed back the curtain and watched James's eyes grow wide when he saw the big white flakes fall from the sky.

"It looks like it's really coming down," said Amy, James' nanny, who had joined them at the window. "Say Castle you want some hot cocoa while I feed James his lunch?"

At the mention of lunch James started to babble happily and rock in Castle's arms. "Someone's hungry," remarked Castle. "Yes, please hot cocoa would be wonderful. That's another I'm going to have to teach you about," Castle said to James, "The proper way to drink hot chocolate."

Castle sat with his hand around a cup of hot cocoa and listened as Amy feed James. Amy had learned that James eat well when he was being talked to. Not that he was a bad eater, it just that he ate better. Today Amy was talking about her last shift at the hospital and the problem they had trying to help a patient. Castle listened for a bit, he was always in search of a good story. After a while he tuned Amy out as something started to nag him.

Castle the gift giving ninja was worried. The words 'from the heart' and 'memory' kept flowing through his mind. The more they did the more Castle was convinced he had missed something really important. Castle looked at the tree and started working through the really important people in his life.

Martha, no problem, Mom will love the 'This is your life,' thing I put together.

Alexis, the wok and evening cooking classes for beginners at the Culinary Institute for her and the guy she's been seeing over a year. The classes should help them decide if they can cook together and perhaps make more meaningful memories together.

As Castle worked through each of the people, he was sure he was on target. When he got to Lanie he started to laugh. He had bought four tickets to four different performance dates covering the remainder of the ballet season. Castle hated the ballet, but he absolutely loved seeing Kate in an evening dress and the smile on her face as she watched the performance made it worth the two hours or so of torture he endured. Two of the tickets were for him and Kate and the other pair for Lanie. He smiled when he recalled the note he included with the tickets. In the note he had offered to escort Lanie if she couldn't find a suitable companion, provided of course Lanie didn't mind Kate being on his other arm. But Kate's note trumped his big time.

'Lanie, should the unthinkable happen and duty prevents me from attending the ballet and Castle is your companion for the evening please see that he behaves properly. He's not quite ready to solo at the ballet yet. Castle is a gentlemen and I'm sure that he will insist on seeing you safely home. Please remember that the only two accepted ways to thank him is a handshake or a kiss on the cheek. Anything else may unleash a possessive and vindictive bitch (just kidding).

Love ya Lanie,

Kate'

Then Castle thought about the most important person in his life and he shivered. He knew he had missed it. The pretty bobble he bought was just another piece of jewelry. The new laptop he bought to replace the ancient abacus Kate was using was just a tool. The wool hat, matching scarf and gloves were just practical things that she would appreciate and use as was the assortment of silk scarves that Castle had bought to add a touch of color to those awful 'business women's suits' Kate had started to wear at work.

Castle grimaced. He absolutely hated the business women suit look. On one evening when they were going out to dinner and to the opening of Martha's show he went so far as to bring Kate an outfit to wear. She was nonplussed to say the least, and the fight they had at home ended with Castle's acknowledgement that Kate should be Captain Beckett at work, and a plea that when they were out together could she please be Kate Castle. Kate conceded the point and the makeup was spectacular.

"Got to go," Castle said abruptly as he set down his empty cup and headed toward the closet for his coat.

"Must be about your Mom and important," whispered Amy to which James nodded enthusiastically.

"Cabs still running," Castle asked the Doorman for the building.  
"Yes Mister Castle they are, but you may have to wait a little longer than normal. The cabs are become scarce. Especially since this stuff is really coming down. You're smart not to drive."

"Yeah, first real snow fall and all. One of the things I love about this city is the public transportation. I'll wait for a couple of minutes, if nothing shows up I'll head toward the subway." As if on cue a cab started to slow to a stop in front of the build and Castle was out of the door before the cab had come to a complete stop.

As Castle approached the cab he saw the trunk pop open to reveal several shopping bags full of stuff. "These _yours_ Missus Steven" Castle called through the open door?

"Yes dear."

"Let me get them for you. Say," he called to the driver. "I need a ride. You still accepting fares?"

"Yeah, what's one more?"

"Let me help get the packages inside out of the weather and I'll be right back."

"Where we headed," asked the cabbie once Castle had settled in to the seat. "Great," he replied in response to Castle's drop-off location. "That gets me closer to the barn, and by the time we get there it will be near the end of my shift and I can park this thing before the crazies really come out."

Castle sat back and took a deep breath. The more he thought about it the more he was convinced he was doing that right thing for Kate and him. When he looked up he was certain that the cab driver was a hockey fanatic and a Rangers fan. The bobble-head of their world class goalie, Henrick Lundqvist , 'Velcroed' to the dash was a dead give-away.

"I'm convinced," said the cabbie noticing Castle's gaze, "That he has saved this cab on many occasions."

"Let's hope he doesn't have to make another save today," laughed Castle. "I must admit I'm a Knicks fan and the only thing I really know about the Rangers is that they are the 'other' Team that plays in Madison Square Garden."

"Then let me educate you," said the cabbie with the exuberance of a dedicated fan. For the rest of the trip he gave a run-down of the Team and their prospects for making the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup.

They were a block and a half away from Castle's destination when traffic stalled.

"Looks like an accident," said the cabbie.

"Sorry for getting you stuck in traffic," offered Castle. "Here," he continued handing his fare and generous tip forward. "I can walk from here. Hope you make it make to the barn safely and soon."

Castle got out and before he could close the door he heard a cry for a cab come from a woman standing on the sidewalk. Castle turned and looked at the cabbie. "What's one more," he heard through the open door. Castle waved the woman forward and waited for the young woman and her daughter to be seated in the cab before closing the door behind them and carefully making his way through the slush to the sidewalk.

Before he made it to the corner he heard a honk and he watched as the cab he was just in flow by. 'Looks like the goalie made another save after all,' thought Castle as he waved to the cabbie. He turned the corner and made it three steps before he turned up the collar of his overcoat as the wind reminded him that it was a cold day. As he neared his destination he was confronted by a very unusual and annoying obstacle. A person, most definitely a woman, was heading in his direction. The problem was that she was using an umbrella to combat the snow and the wind, and she was holding the umbrella in such a fashion that she could only see her next step. 'Self-centered twit,' thought Castle when it became apparent they were heading for the same place and she would run over him unless he did something.

"Let me get the door for you," he half-yelled over the wind.

Castle watched the umbrella go vertical to reveal a face he could never forget and would cherish forever.

"Castle, what are you doing here," asked the love of his life? The surprised smile Kate gave him warmed him to the core.

Same Day at the 12th – Kate's Story

Captain Beckett arrived at the 12th near her usual time and hurried to the Precinct's operations center. She needed to get something into the morning brief. As she was walking into the center Kate shook her head in disbelieve. If an instructor at the Academy had told her that one of the most essential pieces of information that a precinct Captain needed to perform her duty was the weather report she would thought him crazy. But it was the truth and now the Captain hurried to make her weather-caused desires known to the troops.

The weather report pretty much guaranteed a white Christmas, but the cost could be high. The weather report was for the light rain to increase, transition to freezing rain and finally snow. Three-to-six inches was the predicted accumulation. She was sure the City crews could handle it. Kate wasn't so sure about the drivers. The real problem occurred when the temperatures dropped and stayed in the single digits for almost a week. As this was the first cold snap, Captain Beckett was concerned that the homeless were ill-prepared and would be at risk.

As a former Homicide, Detective Kate knew that investigating the death of a homeless person who froze to death pretty much killed the holiday spirit, and she as going to do her best to try to prevent that from happening. Hence she was asking her Uniformed Officers to make a conscientious effort to persuade the homeless to move into a shelter for a couple of days.

That done, Captain Beckett hit the phone to call the shelter operators and tell them what she was doing. She also asked if they would re-consider their policy on length of stay. Normally the shelters allowed someone to stay a couple of nights, but the cold snap was scheduled to last longer than that. If they couldn't relax their policy could and would they consider a 'guest swap' with another shelter. To facilitate this Captain Beckett was willing to provide some transportation support. The negotiations were longer and harder than Kate had ever imagined, but they were completed successfully.

Finally Captain Beckett logged in and checked her email. The flood of congratulatory emails gave her a sense of well-deserved accomplishment. After forwarding all of the appropriate emails to the robbery Detectives and Tech staff who were working this case, Kate sat back and reviewed the success this on-going operation had achieved. "Babe, it was you're silly idea that made this possible," Kate told Castle's chair.

With the Holiday Season came a unique holiday crime, namely stealing packages from the steps and doorways of the intended recipients. When Kate discussed the problem and it's magnitude with Castle over dinner, his response was simple.

"Sting them, sting them hard. Look," he continued when he saw the blank look on Kate's face. "Have them steal your package. You know the one with a GPS equipped transponder. When the package walks away…."

"We'll be able to track it," Kate completed for her husband.

Kate hadn't believed all of the details necessary to implement the scheme. It took several days for her to work through them and the results had been spectacular, which was sad. They had arrested three individuals and a gang that operated two warehouses and employed twelve crews. The crews wore uniforms and drove a van that looked it belonged to one on the major package delivery companies. They trailed the real van by thirty minutes or so and when they saw an unattended package they simply stopped and picked it up. If someone stopped them they were told to say that they were simply part of a new home package pick-up service. The NYPD raided the residences of the individuals and the warehouses a couple of days ago and once the media reported it, not one of their 'bait' packages had been touched and all had been returned by the addressee to the Department.

Captain Beckett smiled when she thought about the 'box' session. Tim Collins, the lead Robbery Detective, had struck out in his attempt to get a confession and the suspect had said he wasn't saying a thing until his lawyer showed up. After Detective Collins walked out of the box, Beckett, after thinking for a minute, headed in.

"Didn't you hear me," the suspect has almost shouted. "I told the other guy that I wasn't answering any questions."

"Oh I heard," said Beckett. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Captain Kate Beckett. I command the 12th. This is my house," she continued looking around the box.

"I get it. Bad Cop, Good Cop. I'm still not going to say anything."

"You don't have to. I'm going to talk and you can listen if you want. I don't care. … You're going to be famous you know, right up there with the Grinch as the 'Man who stole Christmas'. At least that's how I'm going to introduce you in my press conference which starts in forty-two minutes. Of course I've got to use the word 'Alleged', but the ADA doesn't have that restriction when he's in the Courtroom. I can imagine that after his opening remarks the jury won't care what your Lawyer says. I mean someone who steals Christmas probably rates lower than a mass murderer of children." Kate paused and sighed. "It won't matter what your Lawyer says anyway because we got you cold, the packages, trucks, uniforms, and the testimony of your employees. You're burnt toast. Oh, I looked it up; each package theft carries a minimum of a three month jail term. You had packages from over two-thousand families in those warehouses of yours. Considering that each theft is a separate event that comes out to over five hundred years of jail time. Good luck with that, because where you are going, even the Cons respect Christmas. So please don't confess and lobby for a deal."

Kate watched as the suspect grew steadily paler and constantly moistened his dry lips.

"I don't think there will be a dry eye in the sentencing hearing. I'd imagine the ADA will have victims with missing packages testify. I can just see one tearful mother asking you what you did with the bead necklace her daughter made for her Great Grandmother. That should just about seal the deal. The only reason that you won't be lynched is because the bailiffs are that good."

"ADA," croaked the suspect. "I want to speak to the ADA."

"It just so happens I have two in the house, my attempt to improve customer service. I sincerely hope they don't have any Christmas specials left on the shelf," the Captain said as she got up and exited the room. Once outside and the door closed behind her she couldn't suppress the smile that appeared on her face.

"Kate that was…" said Susan Campbell, the junior ADA present as she rushed to enter the box.

"Thanks, Susan?…"

"Don't worry the time will reflect the crime."

"Thanks."

The flashing email icon brought Kate back to the present. It was from the Chief. In it he directed her to prepare a paper suitable for a publication in one of the various trade journals and a presentation to give to other Police Departments. It seems that holiday package theft was not just a New York City problem and the solution that the 12th had implemented was cheap, easily replicated, and it worked.

After acknowledging the task and asking for some time to put together a production schedule, Beckett settled back in her chair and looked at Castle's chair again. "You have no idea of the headache you caused me, but you helped me solve it anyway," she said softly.

Kate smiled as she remembered the predicament she found herself in after the arrests had been made and the solution she came up with. With the thieves behind bars and their confessions in hand, the problem became how to get the stolen packages that were in the custody of the NYPD back into the hands of the rightful owners prior to Christmas day. The NYPD wasn't in the package delivery business and the normal procedure of having people come in to 'Lost and Found' to claim them didn't make sense.

"This story needs a happy ending," Kate said to no one in particular. 'Story – Castle,' thought Kate, a minute later she was on the phone and thirty minutes later she had agreements from the major package forwarding companies that they would come, reclaim their packages and guarantee their delivery by Christmas. The companies agreed that it would cost some overtime dollars but the positive PR would be worth millions. The United States Post Office representative had the best line of the day when he said the Post Office should consider a change and add "…And thieves," to their famous pledge of service.

That was yesterday and one of the emails was from the Post Office guy and he said a special truck had left the facility and the Press was meeting them at their first delivery. 'Good PR for all,' thought Kate.

Beckett consulted her calendar, nodded, grabbed her coffee cup and headed toward the break room. She didn't know the reason. Maybe it was the Christmas season, the upcoming bad weather, or the huge amount of positive publicity they had lately, but Captain Beckett had no new case reviews on her calendar and only one in process review scheduled after lunch. 'Enjoy the lull. It won't last,' she told herself as she headed back to her office to get ahead of the dreaded report trifecta, 'the Monthlies, Quarterlies, and the End of Year reports.'

Captain Beckett had spent a solid two hours working through the material before her phone buzzed. It was a text message informing her that Castle's present was ready to be picked up. 'He'll love them,' she thought as she grabbed her empty coffee cup and went for a refill. She had bought him an exquisite set of cuff links and a set of platinum studs for his formal shirts. She had also bought a selection of colored bow ties. In addition to the basic black, she had bought a dark midnight blue, a powder blue, a red and a green. The blues would be good for a change of pace. The red was for the Valentine 's Day dance and the green for Saint Patrick's day. 'But I don't know when he'll use them for the first time,' she fretted on her way back to her office. 'He handled the first news okay, but I haven't told about the other, but he hasn't mentioned any New Year's Eve parties either.'

'He took the first one well,' Kate thought as she sat back down. Last night over dinner Kate told Castle that she was going to be the Watch Commander for the Precinct on Christmas Eve. She had expected an outburst and a bit of fight. What she got was an understanding husband. She saw the flash of anger in his eyes, then a nod of understanding or acceptance, and then a devilish twinkle.

"Should Santa-Castle decided to surprise his wife with a catered dinner; may I suggest dinner for a hundred, buffet style and a serving time of seven-thirty?"

"Am I that transparent and predictable?"

"Only to me and only on the things that matter. That's another thing I love about you." What Kate didn't tell Castle was the duty came with a perk. The ones performing the duty could schedule a day off. Kate had selected Castle's birthday. She was already planning to make his birthday a day he would never forget.

As Captain Beckett worked on the narratives for the reports something kept bothering her. When she saved the last narrative it hit her. The thing that was bothering her was her gifts for Castle. They were just things. Not a single one of them would tell Castle how much she loved and needed him. What? Do I? Hell yes she decided as she grabbed her coat, hat and on impulse the umbrella and headed out of the office.

'Driving a police cruiser has its benefits,' thought Kate as she parked in a loading zone a half a block away from her destination. Thanks goodness for the umbrella, she thought. The wind makes the snow and rain mix lethal. The downside was she couldn't see over a step in front of her.

"Let me get the door for you," said a very familiar and welcome voice over the wind.

Kate titled the umbrella vertical and thought Castle looked as astonished as she felt.

"Castle, what are you doing here," she asked? Castle's answering smile made her forget all about the wind, rain and the snow.

Together – Their Story

"Freezing my ears off," Castle replied. "Shall we," he asked as he opened the door.

"Come on in guys," said a familiar female voice. "The coffee is just starting to drip. You guys want a cup? Come on back when you're ready. You know where I sit."

"Thanks Mel I could use a cup," said Castle.

"One for me too Mel," echoed Kate.

They had arrived at a travel agency. Melody Carson had been making all of Castle's travel plans for years. There were many times Kate had called Melody to find out where Castle was. Especially those times when he didn't answer his cell because he had turned it off or the battery had died. Melody was so good that she had the phone numbers of the stores where Castle was doing his readings and book signing. While they were dating, Kate considered her a willing conspirator in the task of keeping track of her man. Now she was a full-fledged ally.

"Castle," Kate asked?

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Castle started. "Since we have yet to make to a tropic island for our honeymoon, I was going to ask Melody to book us a tropical vacation in the early spring."

"You should have asked me first so I could make sure I had nothing on my calendar and I had the days." As soon as Kate spoke she realized she had made a terrible mistake. "When," she asked quietly.

"The last part of April, after taxes. By then I think I will want and need some quite time with my wife. I was going to tell you at Christmas. Hopefully that's enough warning to fit me in."

When Castle said 'fit me in' Kate felt like he slapped her hard. Ever since she had taken the promotion she had done nothing but 'fit Castle in' and that had to change.

"Why are you here," he asked a trace of sarcasm present in his voice. "Do you have another Captain's conference or presentation to go to?"

"I may but that's not the reason why I'm here." Kate paused for a moment. She immediately forgave Castle his tone of voice and she was touched and excited by his present. 'I'm going to play this to the hilt,' she smiled.

"I'm led to believe," she said slowly, "That a certain New York novelist was influenced and inspired by the works of a certain British author whose principal character was a spy…. I believe that the setting for several of that characters adventures where certain islands in the Caribbean…. Mel, am I correct in the assumption that several companies offer tours that allow the participants to walk in the footsteps so to speak of this famous character?"

"A James Bond tour," Mel repeated. "Yep, Kate I can set that up. I know one of the tour organizers personally. He's a huge 'Nikki Heat' fan and when I tell her that you're coming… "

"James Bond, we're going on a James Bond tour," squeaked Castle, the joy on his face and the glee in his voice obvious to the world.

Kate smiled, turned back to look at Castle and reached out and touched his hand. "Babe, since our casework is down, I thought you could you use a fresh dose of inspiration. Of course I thought I'd tag along to keep you out of trouble and perhaps provide you some inspiration for, ah, other activities."

"Kate I …"

"When do you want to go," asked Mel?

"Oh, Castle's idea of April after taxes seems right to me."

"But the other tour?"

"Oh, we're doing both. JB in April and the tropical paradise on our anniversary," said Kate in a voice that left no doubt as to her desires.

"But Kate, the days, your schedule."

"I'll make it work Babe. We'll make it work. If I don't have the days then I'll take some unpaid leave. It's not like me missing a paycheck will bankrupt us."

"But..."  
"Babe ever since I took the promotion, you've been a saint. You've been super supportive and I've made you play second fiddle to my job. There are no do overs in life. I know that, but there is always the opportunity to change the now to make the future better, and I want my future to contain more Richard Castle time. "

"Kate I,…" As Castle stepped closer to kiss his wife he slipped on the water and snow they had tracked in with them and he lost his balance and his lips barely covered half of Kate's. As he fell Kate shifted to her left and dropped to one knee and caught him before he hit the floor. "I got you," she husked. The concern in her eyes melted away when she saw the laughter in his eyes.

" I guess I missed," he laughed.

"Been that long, uh Castle," said Mel. "You've forgotten how to kiss your wife? Since I am a full service travel agent and in cases like this, especially since you're kind of cute and rich, I would offer my services as a kissing coach. But considering Kate's already here and she's carrying a gun I'll let her conduct the lessons. Take your time and practice. I got some work to do to set you guys up. Kate, come on back when Castle passes his exam. The coffee will be waiting. "

Kate took the hint and kissed her husband.

Several days later

The city that never sleeps appeared to be taking a siesta. The rush to Christmas had passed and the hectic mercantile days that followed had wound down. The City appeared to be catching its breath and slowly gearing up for the biggest party night of the year.

Things were so quiet that a certain Precinct Captain was seen leaving the 12th way before the end of her shift and neither an emergency nor an incident called her back. Her arrival at the Loft absolutely amazed, surprised and delighted the natives. Her early arrival allowed her to participate in the discussion of the question that continues to vex the civilized world. 'What's for dinner?'

After changing into house clothes Kate returned to the kitchen and couldn't suppress a laugh. James was letting Castle know he didn't like being in his high chair, especially during play time.

"It's okay tiger," Kate cooed. "It will only be for a couple of minutes while we do the prep work for dinner. Let me get you some juice and Cheerios. We'll have plenty of time to play when we're done." Kate didn't know if it was the mention of the juice, Cheerios, or play time that caused James to settle down, she was just glad he did. After taking care of Jim, she wiped out the rice cooker, put enough rice for the both of them in, set the timer and continued on to her next task. As she pulled out a big pot she snuck a glance at Castle. He had used the microwave to defrost the shrimp and was busy taking their skins off.

After filling the pot with water and adding 'Old Bay' she headed toward the refrigerator. She kissed James and gently touched Castle as she passed. As she touched Castle she fondly remembered their first 'kitchen experience.'

They had just begun dating and were scared to be seen in public eating dinner, especially at the places Castle liked to go. After finishing up at the Precinct they arrived at Kate's place and decided to 'eat-in' and take pot luck from the fridge and the pantry. Kate was extremely nonplused when Castle joined her in the kitchen. 'Look' Castle had said when Kate politely had tried to shoe him away. 'I came here to be with you, not sit around in another room. I want to be with you. I DO know my way around the kitchen. I want to help. I won't get in your way, I promise. What can I do to help?' She let him do the salads, and the rest was as they say history. By cooking together, she had learned so much more about him, and now for both of them doing the prep work was automatic and extremely therapeutic.

Kate collected a couple of eggplants, a zucchini and a tomato from the fridge. After grabbing a small yellow onion from the bin she headed back to the chopping block. Castle insisted on using two chopping blocks, one for the meat and the other for the vegetables. After reducing the vegetables to a size easily manageable by chopsticks and putting them in a mixing bowl Kate frowned. "We don't have enough fresh vegetables."

"I'm sure we got some canned stuff we can use," Castle said absently.

Kate wandered to the pantry and returned with mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and corn. After mixing her finds in with the other vegetables she went back to the refrigerator. "Come on Castle where is it? I saw the teriyaki sauce. But I know you and there's no way you would agree to cook stir-fry without a bottle of ginger sauce around. Where is it?"

"Top shelf, right rear corner. It's labeled as strawberry preserves."

Kate extracted the bottle, unscrewed the cap and used her little finger to taste it. Satisfied she headed back toward the vegetables her prize firmly in her hand. "You hiding this from me," she challenged the music in her voice obvious? She laughed at the 'who me' expression on Castle's face.

"Well yea. It seems like if a leave a jar in plain sight it gets drained overnight."

"That's YOUR daughter," Kate laughed. "With me a bottle lasts at least two whole days, maybe as long as a week."

Castle laughed, shook his head and remembered the day he first introduced Kate to ginger sauce. It was twice actually and he made both mistakes on the same day. It was right after they were married and grocery shopping hadn't been a priority. It was breakfast time and Castle wanted something to liven up his scrambled eggs. They were out of the normal stuff so Castle improvised with the ginger sauce. Kate asked for a taste and Kate became a convert. The next mistake occurred at dinner. He didn't have the fixings to make his Waldorf salad so he made a plain salad for him and a Caesar for Kate. He was out of his normal salad dressing so once again he improvised with the ginger sauce. Kate tasted it and in the span of one day he had created a ginger sauce zealot. He watched Kate add a generous helping of the sauce on the vegetables, cover the bowl and head back to the fridge with the vegetables and the jar.

"I can't believe," said Castle, "That all the times we cooked together before we got married and ginger sauce never came up."

"And you call me the secret keeper," said Kate as she came up and hugged Castle from behind. "You still holding out on me? What other secrets do you have? Don't make me tickle them out of you."

"I do have one," confessed Castle as he turned in Kate's arms. "It concerns the pesky woman I married."

"Pesky?"

"Yea, I've never told her, but I think she has a cute nose." As Castle leaned in to kiss Kate's nose he found he lips instead. There kiss was cut short by Jim's shriek.

"I'll be with you in a minute Tiger," cooed Kate. "Just let me…"

"Go ahead, it will only take me a couple of minutes to finish chopping up the shrimp and clean up. I don't mind, besides he needs some Mommy time."

Kate set James down. Instead of making a bee-line for his toys he reached up and grabbed his Mother's hand and led her to them. Kate sat down beside her son and immediately forgot she was a Police Captain. All to soon Castle's voice broke into their play time.

"The rice is done. You want to feed James his dinner will I do the stir-fry?"

At the mention of dinner James looked up into his Mother's eyes.

"Sure," said Kate. "We'll play some more after dinner. Okay Tiger?"

James jumped up and held out his hand as if he was offering his Mother a hand up.

Kate took it and Castle's. As they were walking back to the kitchen Kate was in heaven. Her little guy was holding her hand and her big guy had his arm around her waist and had just whispered 'I love you' in her ear.

As Kate was placing James in his high chair Kate looked at the table and frowned. "The plates won't do Castle. Just put the stir-fry in a bowl and I'll serve okay."

As Kate fed James she didn't need to watch Castle to know what he was doing. He nose and ears told her everything. Kate heard the drizzle of oil being added to the wok. The sizzle and the smell told her that Castle had started with the vegetables. As the sound died down Kate imagined Castle moving the vegetables to the 'warm' zone of the wok. A drizzle and a loud sizzle told Kate that the shrimp had been added, and the smell was delicious. As the sound died down Kate knew that the vegetables had been added to the shrimp and they would be cooked together for a couple of minutes. Kate finished feeding James, wiped his face and moved to help her husband.

Kate grabbed the two plates and the two bowls from the table. After placing one of the bowls near her husband she returned the remainder of the dishes to the cupboard and extracted a single large platter. As Castle was moving the stir-fry from the wok to the bowl, Kate was dumping the rice from the rice cocker to the platter. After forming the rice into a big mound in the center of the platter, she accepted the stir-fry and proceeded to create a vegetable moat around a 'Castle' of rice. Satisfied with her work she brought the platter to the table and placed it between them.

"Kate this looks fantastic," said Castle as he used his chopsticks to nab a piece of eggplant and direct it towards his mouth.

"Castle, No, Wait,… remember," implored Kate?

Castle stopped and for a moment his mind shifted back to his wedding day and the wedding feast. That day they also had Chinese cooking and had eaten from a single plate. The single plate symbolized that their fates were forever joined. Kate had fed him the first bite from the delicacies on the plate. That night it was an oyster. The first bite symbolized that Kate realized she was responsible for the health and well-being of her husband. Castle had fed Kate the next bite symbolizing his acceptance of the responsibility to protect and provide for his wife.

"I remember that you were the most beautiful bride in the galaxy," he said as he leaned in and took the offered shrimp from Kate's chopsticks. He dropped the eggplant, found and offered Kate a piece of shrimp. Her answering smile filled the room. 'I don't know what prompted Kate to do this,' mused Castle, 'but I glad she did. The experience is both humbling and rewarding.' After several bites Castle had had enough. He grabbed his chair and headed to the other side of the counter, to sit beside his wife.

The frown on Kate's face caused by Castle's standing up changed to a smile when she realized what he was doing. She pulled the platter closer to her side of the table and scooted her chair to the right to make room. Castle sat close, their shoulders almost touching. "You know what the best thing about eating with chopsticks is don't you," he asked?

"You only need one hand to eat," said Kate as she snatched Castle's free hand in her own. Not much was verbalized during dinner. The hand squeezes, eye contact and the occasional chopstick fight spoke loud and often. Midway through dinner a squeak from James captured their attention.

"You want to try some," asked Castle? When James nodded, Castle looked at the plate and decided that the pieces, as small as they were, were still too large for his son. He got a knife and cut a small piece of shrimp.

"This is shrimp," he said as he offered the tidbit. James looked at the chopsticks with suspicion but took the offered food. They watched his face react with surprise and joy and his excited babble and hands banging on his tray left no doubt what he thought about it.

"You've created a monster," quipped Kate over her laughter.

Castle cut slivers of the other things and named them before he fed them to James. None elicited the response he had for the shrimp. Castle offered another piece of shrimp and James response was just as enthusiastic. Eventually James refused a piece of shrimp.

"Where you going with the buster," Kate teased as Castle started to eat it. Castle fed Kate and she reciprocated with a piece of eggplant.

"Not fair," complained Castle. "I feed you shrimp and all I get eggplant in return."

"It was a small piece," protested Kate.

"Shrimp means small," retorted Castle.

"You," shirked Kate as she gently shoulder bumped her husband.

Eventually they wound down.

"That will be my lunch tomorrow," said a stuffed Kate.

"Add and egg or two and Amy and I will finish it off for breakfast," confirmed Castle. "Not many dishes tonight," Castle nodded.

"I'll take care of them," Kate said with a wan smile. "You unleash the Tiger?"

Castle squeezed Kate's hand. "Right, come on son," he said as he lifted James out of his high chair. "It's play time." They watched as James made a beeline toward the toy pile he had in front of the Christmas tree.

Castle followed and moved into the adjoining room. After tuning the radio to a station they both loved he turned on the fireplace and moved the cushions from the love seat to the floor like he and Kate had done so many times in the past.

Castle watched with amusement when James first noticed the fireplace. He stood up and walked toward it, stopped and looked back at the Christmas tree lights. For several seconds he was like the proverbial mule between two piles of hay. He kept looking from to the other. Evidentially he went back to his toy pile, but he sat so he could see the fireplace.

In a couple of minutes Kate, carrying a couple of glasses of wine, joined them. "Nice! We haven't sat like this in ages. The conversation was light and centered on their friends at the 12th. 'Oh and Lanie liked the gifts you sent her," Kate said in passing.

"Gifts? I only sent the tickets."

"It's the other one that you sent last spring that most of the ME's are thanking you for. Remember the Sea Lions and the vest you sent her?" 'Kate was NOT going to tell Castle what her best friend had said in response to her note. Not in a million years.

At the mention of the Sea Lions, Castle felt a twinge in his back. He looked at Kate and nodded.

"Well it seems that the Chief ME has put in his budget vests for his people. More accurately he's funding two vests per vehicle. Normally, it's still up to the discretion of the ME's if they want to wear it. Wearing it becomes mandatory anytime the lead Police Officer specifically directs his troops to wear them. "

"Hopefully they will never have to catch a bullet," said Castle.

"And if they do, let's hope they do it right," added Kate.

As the evening wore on Kate could tell that something was bothering Castle. "Castle? Something bothering you? Don't tell me nothing or I will deck you. Castle?"

"I am feeling a little bit guilty about the last gift I gave you. You know the trip?"

"What on earth for? No don't tell me. Let me try to figure it out."  
'What's going on here? He can't be serious. The only reason he could fell guilty is … of course. … Now then how do I …'

"Castle you're over thinking it. When you bought the gift the heart was talking, don't muzzle it…. I think you're feeling guilty because you think you really bought the gift for yourself not me," she said gently her eyes on his face and his hand in hers.

"You bought it because subconsciously the thing you want for Christmas is more time with me, right?"

"Yeah and…."

"And Nothing," Kate said in a forceful whisper "Do you know how wonderful that makes me feel? To know that my husband wants me. Me! The feeling is…I love you Richard Alexander Edgar Rodgers Castle and I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you. I WILL spend the rest of my life with you. I know this promotion has been rough on you and I'm finally sorting it out, but I WILL spend more time with you I promise. Spending more time with you is my only New Year's Resolution."

'I guess I'll spring the bad news now.' "Castle about New Year's Eve…."

"Bob Madison called and wanted to know if we wanted to share a table like we did last year. I backed off because I knew you had to work."  
"Yes … How...?" The amazed expression on Kate's face was priceless.

"I read the text on your phone from 1PP while you were in the shower yesterday morning confirming that you were the Watch Commander for the 12th on New Year's Eve. You guy's expecting trouble?"

"They upped the threat alert, and you're reading my official communications now," Kate said in a mock teasing voice? "And New Year's Eve is not a reason for a catered dinner for the troops," the last part left no doubt that the last part was a command. "I'll get home around seven the next morning. I will expect breakfast and after a nap I'm yours for the rest of the day."

"What do you mean now," Castle laughed. "I consider reading your mail a matter of personal survival. I'm looking forward to cuddling with my wife."

Kate's laughed turned into a bit of a frown. "Let's just say manning by the Precinct Captains was suggested. I know you like a good party Babe. I'm sorry, forgive me?"

Castle brought Kate's hand up to his lips. "You're forgiven. I do like a good party that's true. New Year's Eve… I won't miss the loud mouth jerks who think New Year's Eve is an iron-clad excuse for bad manners and behavior…"

"Or the fools who use the party as an excuse for getting drunk," added Kate.

"Or the egotistical men who use the party to display their latest trophy wives," added Castle disgustedly. "I WILL miss," said Castle as he looked into the eyes of his wife, "the sight of my beautiful butterfly as she emerges from her cocoon and walks toward me."

"I'll miss," said Kate, "The look on my husband's face as I walk toward him. I'll miss his arms around my waist and his breath in my hair as we play the bowtie game."

"I'll miss the admiring looks we get as we enter the room, for my wives physical beauty surpasses even the Trophy Wives and her inner beauty is beyond compare."

"I'll miss dancing with my husband."

"We aren't that good," Castle retorted.

"We've gotten better, and I don't care. I'm on the floor with the man I love."

"New Year's Eve," repeated Castle. "What I will miss most," he said slowly and looking deeply into Kate's eyes. "Is the first kiss of the year, a kiss from champagne flavored lips. A kiss full of hope and promise…. It's not that that your regular flavored kisses aren't just as nice or pleasing," Castle fumbled. "Or they aren't just as full of …."  
"Shut up and kiss me," husked Kate. The kiss was soft, gently and worthy of its name and they broke it when they heard the sound of running feet and the shriek of their two legged tiger cub.

Kate had time to turn, catch James in her arms and start tickling him as she settled him in her lap. In a few moments the room was alive with the sweet laughter of James and the chuckles of his father and mother. "You need to work on your pounce," she offered.

When Kate stopped tickling James, he settled down in her lap, yawned, closed his eyes for a second and then snapped them open and yawned again.

"It is way past his bedtime," said Castle.  
"I'm not taking him up like this. He can rest here for a couple of minutes." When Kate stopped talking she started to hum a lullaby softly, just for James.

"Wine," asked Castle.

Kate nodded her eyes flashing out her gratitude.

When Castle returned he held Kate's glass to her lips. Her eyes once again thanking him.

Castle set down beside his wife and son and got lost in the tranquility of this purely domestic scene. Eventually the radio played a song they both loved. "Right about now I would be asking Missus Castle to dance. But I see my rival has you booked up."  
"Never you're rival Babe, but certainly someone who is at the center of my affections. Come on we can take him up now, and we'll see about that dance later."

Castle helped his wife up and followed her toward the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs he stopped, went back found Snoopy and hurried after the two most important people in his life.

So light was Kate's touch, so soothing was her song that she changed James's diaper and dressed him in a clean pair of jammies without so much as him batting an eye. When she placed him in his bed he began to squirm.

"Here's Snoopy son," said Castle as he tucked the stuffed animal under his son's arm. They heard him sigh and settle down.

"You know," said Kate in a whisper. "I know that Snoopy is always beside James when he goes to sleep. But every morning when I come in to check on him before going to work Snoopy is all the way up there and facing James, like he's protecting him. Everyday!"

"That seems strange. Did you ask him," Castle asked after they had left the room.

"I ask every day and the only answer I get is 'Arf,'" Kate replied at the top of the stairs, her eyes shining.

"'Arf'," chuckled Castle as they descended the steps. "That just proves he's a member of this family."

"Castle, I don't get it," said Kate when they had reached the bottom of the steps and spun around to face him.

"'Arf', that just proves that Snoopy has a way with words."

"You," shirked Kate softly as she gently slapped Castles' chest. "It's about the dance," she said as her arms went around his neck and her lips sought his. "I'm afraid that you're going to have to take a rain-check. I have something else in mind."


End file.
